Correspondent
IMPHAL, APRIL 17
Manipur on Thursday witnessed 70-75 % polling in its second Lok Sabha seat-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, which comprises 32 Assembly Constituencies under four valley districts, according to Manipur’s Chief Electoral Officer(CEO)O Nabakishore.
Among the four valley districts-Thoubal recorded 84 % plus polling while Imphal West has the least poll percentage (70% plus). Bishnupur and Imphal East district recorded 75% and 71% respectively.
The overall polling was peacefully in the state. However a total of 15 EVMs were replaced during the day’s polling due to technical snags.
Though there was a protest by villagers for shifting of Kabow Leikai Nongpok polling station, the polling was resumed later, Nabakishore said.
Protesting the action of Officer in Charge of Nambol police station and demanding his transfer in connection with non election incident, almost all the voters of the Laimaram and Heinoubok villages abstains from voting at four polling stations (25/1,25/2,25/3 and 25/4)at Leimaram village under Oinam Assembly Constituency(AC) under Bishnupur district.
Additional police team was sent. Even the CEO himself visited the said polling booths and appealed the villagers to cast their votes but there is no positive response. “But there is no chance of conducting re-poll (in the above polling booths) because this is not the case of booth capturing or other form of disturbance,”CEO felt.
Similarly the villagers of Lambal under Lamsang AC in Imphal West district also abstains from polling at Lambal Primary school polling booth(17/29)to protest the arrest and alleged branding of a village youth as a militant.
Thursday’s polling will decide the fate of eight candidates including the sitting congress MP Dr T Meinya Singh who is seeking re-election for the third consecutive term.
According to political observers, though there are 8 candidates in the fray, the main battle will be between Congress candidate and Dr Moirangthem Nara Singh of the Communist Party of India who lost to Dr Meinya in 2009 polls and Dr RK Ranjan Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On April 9, around 84 percent of the total 9,11,699 voters in the tribal reserved Outer Manipur PC which comprises of five hill districts-Chandel, Churachandpur, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul besides 8 ACs in Thoubal and Imphal East districts, cast their votes.
Residents boycott polls in Imphal West district
Agencies
IMPHAL, April 17
People in five polling stations in Imphal West district boycotted the Lok Sabha polls held on Thursday. The voters in four polling stations at Oinam Assembly constituency did not turn up for casting their votes. This is in protest against the manhandling of a woman allegedly by a police official under Nambol station limits. The people have been demanding the transfer of the police officer.
One woman activist told The Hindu that they met Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei, who is in charge of Home Ministry on the issue. The activists told the leaders that unless the police official is transferred, they have no option but to boycott polls.
Despite the assurance by the Gangmei to address the issue within a week, nothing has happened, they alleged.Meanwhile, Chaoba Thounaojam, the state unit president of the BJP deplored the lapses of the Manipur government in this regard. He said that after a preliminary inquiry the officer should have been transferred away to mollify the people. He added that it is not too late now to transfer him if he is found guilty and then fix a new date of polling for these polling stations.
In a separate development, voters at Lambal in Imphal West district boycotted the elections on Thursday. The voters were angered over the arrest of a driver by personnel of 10 Assam Rifles.
Despite the developments, Mr. Gangmei is tight-lipped over the issue.
Militants under MoU failed to vote
Those militant organisations under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) failed to cast votes today in the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency in want of security.
Except for KCP leader Nongdrenkhomba, no other militants under this category cast their votes.
KCP leader Nongdrenkhomba was seen casting his vote in a polling station in Kumbi assembly constituency, said a source.
The source stated that the failure to provide security by the state government for these militants was the reason they could not go to their respective polling station for voting.
There are seven militant groups under the category of MoU which include URF, KYKL-MDF, KCP-Lamphel, UPPK, UTLA, KCP-Nongdrenkhomba and KCP-MC (Lallumba). Under this category there 584 cadres.
Irom Sharmila not allowed to vote in Manipur
Human rights activist Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has been on a fast for 13 years against a special, stringent anti-terror act in Manipur, was on Thursday not allowed to vote in the Lok Sabha polls as per law. “Under Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a person confined in jail cannot vote,” an Election Commission official said.
“Sharmila earlier submitted an application expressing her desire to cast her vote. But we cannot entertain her prayer as per law,” he said. The 42-year-old Sharmila told reporters in Imphal recently: “I never voted as I had lost faith in democracy, but the rise of the new anti-corruption party, Aam Aadmi Party, changed my thinking.”
Balloting took place on Thursday for the second Lok Sabha seat from the state — Inner Manipur — while polling for the tribal reserved Outer Manipur seat was held April 9. Sharmila has been on an indefinite fast since November 4, 2000, demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, (AFSPA).
She was charged with attempting to commit suicide. Under this charge, she can be kept in custody for one year at a stretch. In view of her ill health, Sharmila is currently lodged in a special ward of the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal where one room, where she is confined to, has been declared sub-jail. The AFSPA, against which Sharmila has been fighting, provides unlimited powers to the security forces to shoot at sight, arrest anybody without a warrant or carry out searches without hindrances. It also insulates the security forces from legal processes for any action undertaken under the act.
